Hip Pain: a joint that often gets over looked.
The hip is a weight bearing joint and is affected by degenerative changes and inflammation. But despite these common and shared problems with the knee joint, treatment for hips is more limited.
Whilst there are some GP’s that will provide knee injections and day case surgery for knee arthroscopy’s is widespread practice; injections and surgical intervention for the hip joint is much more difficult to access.
This is mainly due to the depth of the joint and the costs involved with guided injections performed in Theatre .
However, with appropriate diagnosis and modern ultrasound scans the hip joint does not need to be a poor relation to the knee. For a new patient examination and ultrasound guided cortisone injection the cost is only £150.
There are two key areas that can benefit from injections; the Trochanteric Bursa and the joint capsule. Both these areas can be visualised on ultrasound scans and allow for accurate guided needle placement. The worry of touching a nerve or deep vascular structure is gone, because they are clearly visible.
Secondly, hip injections are relatively painless. In the Journal of Arthroscopic Surgery 49 out of 50 patients preferred ultrasound guided injections over x-ray guided. Most people comment ‘is that it’. The worry of the injection is typically far worse than the injection itself!
Hip joints also have a large number of surrounding muscles and therefore with appropriate exercises the mechanical stability of the joint can be improved.
The key to all muscle and joint related problems remains the same: Improve the joint chemistry by decreasing inflammation or adding joint lubrication and then optimise the movement pattern and supporting muscle strength.
If you feel you may benefit from a clinical examination and ultrasound scan of your hip joint and surrounding tissues then please phone 0114 267 1901 to check on appointment availability.
